If I can bring joy into the world, if I can get people to stop thinking about their pain for a moment, or the fact the tomorrow morning they're going to get up and tell their boss off... then I'll be successful.
Bobby McferrinRead
This is what I want everyone to experience at the end of my concert... _x000D_ everyone has this sense of rejoicing. _x000D_ I don't want them to be blown away by what I do, _x000D_ I want them to have this sense of real, real joy _x000D_ from the depths of their being. _x000D_ Because I think when you take them to that place, _x000D_ then you open up a place where grace can come in.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of creating a joyful and heartfelt experience for the audience during a concert.
Bobby McFerrin expresses his desire for concertgoers to leave with a profound sense of joy rather than simply being impressed by technical skill. He believes that by fostering genuine happiness and emotional connection, performers can create a space for grace and upliftment in their audience's lives.
In practice
This quote can inspire musicians to focus on the emotional connection with their audience rather than just performance.
If I can bring joy into the world, if I can get people to stop thinking about their pain for a moment, or the fact the tomorrow morning they're going to get up and tell their boss off... then I'll be successful.
If I can bring joy into the world, then I'll be successful.
The voice gets to the soul of a person more than any other instrument. Because it's the voice. It sings talks, it cries, it laughs, it squeals, it barks, it shouts it whispers, There is no other instrument that can do that. We're born with it.
Then I came up with this crazy idea just to walk out on the stage with no band at all and just start singing whatever came to mind. I actually fought the idea for a while because it seemed almost too radical, but it became obvious what I was supposed to be doing.
I just wonder where I was when the talent was being given out, like George Benson, Kenny Burrell, Eric Clapton... oh, there's many more! I wouldn't want to be like them, you understand, but I'd like to be equal, if you will.
The music of ABBA is not that happy. It might sound happy, in some strange way, but deep within, it's not happy music. It has that Nordic melancholic feeling to it. What fools you is the girls' voices. You know, I do think that is one of the secrets about ABBA. Even when we were really quite sad, we always sounded jubilant.
I always said if a man would have done half the records that I've done, we would know about it. But we don't know all the records I've done for other artists.
At night in the country, you'd be surprised how that music carries. You could hear my guitar way before you get to the house, and you could hear the peoples hollerin' and screamin'.
Until I realized that rock music was my connection to the rest of the human race, I felt like I was dying, for some reason, and I didn't know why.
The only reason I figured out I didn't like my old records to listen was I could hear how nervous I was and how uncomfortable I was. And who would want to sit around and listen to yourself being uncomfortable?
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